


Walk Any Which Way

by Zeal_Ambition_Steel



Category: Neko no Ongaeshi | The Cat Returns
Genre: Canon Compliant, College, College Applications, Coming of Age, Cute, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Growing Up, Humor, POV Female Character, POV Third Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-08
Updated: 2013-05-08
Packaged: 2017-12-10 20:30:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/789846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeal_Ambition_Steel/pseuds/Zeal_Ambition_Steel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haru enlists the aid of the Baron to apply to college. Fluff and life lessons ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Walk Any Which Way

The Baron stares over her shoulder at her work so far. 

"You just spelled 'easy' incorrectly," he informs Haru. 

"I did?" she murmurs, glancing back at her work. 

"You did," he affirms. "Shouldn't the word be easy to spell?" Haru sighs. 

"Your jokes aren't that funny." 

 

\---

 

"What happened in school today?" The Baron asks her once she crosses the threshold. 

"The usual," she says, shrugging.

"Care to enlighten me as to what you define 'usual' as? For usual could be anything, from chasing Muta to visiting the King," the Baron responds, stirring his tea. Haru smiles. 

"Just…college stuff."

"Ah, the institution of higher learning," says the Baron. 

"Yeah. Emphasis on higher," she grumbles. The Baron sips at his tea. 

"And what do you plan to study?" he asks. Haru bites her lip and looks away. 

"That's the problem. I have no idea." The Baron stares at her thoughtfully for a moment. 

"Do you have hobbies?" he asks. 

"I guess," Haru says as she sits before the table, biting into an apple. 

"Then what might they be?" he inquires.

"Well, I like eating," Haru says with a wry smile. The Baron returns the expression. 

"Don't we all?" 

 

\---

 

Haru stares at the form, completely bamboozled, bewildered, bombarded by its significance. She tentatively raises a hand.

"Haru, what is your question?" says the teacher. The class shifts in their desks to look at her. 

"Well…how am I supposed to know if I want to be close to home, or if I want more than two-thousand kids in my school…or…or…" Haru trails off upon seeing her classmates' amused faces. "What?" she says, trying to hide in the chair's back support. 

"Just circle what you think will suit you best," the teacher suggests, stifling a smile of her own. Haru lowers her gaze to the sheet. Who is she, and what suits her? 

 

\---

 

"What should I write my essay about?" Haru asks. 

"What do you believe this college would like to learn about you, judging from the question?" responds the Baron, following the path of words on a newspaper. 

"Well, it's asking about my most fantastic life experience. But that was in the Cat Kingdom, two years ago," says Haru.

"You could write about saving the Prince from the automobile with a lacrosse stick," offers the Baron, staring down at the picture beneath his feet. 

"How would I take up five-hundred words with that?" Haru yells, kicking her rolling chair away from her desk. She spins lazily in her chair, staring up at the ceiling.

"You know how to write creatively," says the Baron. "Detail every second." 

Haru does. 

 

\---

 

"I think I want to study literature," Haru tells the Baron, eyes trained on the computer screen. "I could tell kooky stories. Like the one where I went to the Cat Kingdom." 

"Well, I am not of the belief that the King would appreciate descriptions of his domain being circulated to an entirely human audience," inputs the Baron, tidying up the left corner of her desk. 

"Ugh, I'm miserable," Haru divulges to the Baron, slumping until her head rests upon her desk. 

"It is one in the morning," says the Baron reasonably. "Perfectly understandable." 

"What do I do?" asks Haru. 

"Walk any which way. Sooner or later you'll discover something beautiful," the Baron imparts onto her. "Pay attention, stay relaxed, and walk for however long it takes before you find your way." Haru smiles. 

"You should be going to college," she says. 

"You'll be surprised to know that I already attended a university," the Baron says, smirking at her. He pats her cheek. "And in the near future, so shall you." 

"What did you do?" asks Haru. The Baron pauses for a moment. 

"I learned all I could," he says finally, "until I discovered my passion for helping others and I established the Cat Bureau." 

"How did you know?" asks Haru. 

"From doing things I loathed, I learned what I did not like, and was able to discern what I liked from it. I enjoyed helping others, living simply, appreciating life, living dangerously by my own cunning. And so I created a place where I could engage in all my passions," the Baron answers her. 

"I think I could do that," says Haru, lifting her head up. The Baron gives her a melancholy smile. 

 

\---

 

Haru becomes a coffee addict somewhere in between college applications. This is the third school she's applying to. She still has no inkling of an idea of what subject or career she will pursue. 

"You need to study for your upcoming history exam," the Baron reprimands Haru, lying on his stomach on her planner, staring down at her reminders to herself. 

"History can wait, this is due next week," says Haru, typing away. 

"Haru, you have a week," the Baron says gently, resting his gloved hand on her wrist. Haru removes her eyes from the screen. "You need rest," he coaxes her. 

"You should get home to the Cat Bureau soon," Haru mumbles. 

"And I will," the Baron promises her. "If I can secure a promise from you that you will sleep for more than two hours tonight." 

"I promise," Haru says. 

It takes a few more days, but she finishes the application. 

\---

 

Haru decides that she wants to keep her options open, and she enters an art school. She graduates with passable grades, and she is happy. 

"Will you come to visit, on occasion?" the Baron asks her as she packs her things. 

"Of course," Haru whispers, turning to the dresser upon which he stands. "We can send letters to each other with Toto." 

"Toto would despise being used as a courier bird," the Baron deduces. "Will you be close to home?"

"Only an hour away," Haru assures him. 

"An hour is an awfully long time for these little legs to walk," jests the Baron. Haru giggles. "Has my wit regained your mirth?"

"Yeah," Haru says, still laughing. The Baron chuckles. When the merriment subsides, a flash of maudlin silence erupts between them. "Will you miss me?" whimpers Haru.

"Of course," the Baron tells her. 

"I'll miss you too," she sobs. She holds the little mobile cat figurine and cries. 

\---

 

When she arrives at her dorm room, she finds a letter. 

Do what you will. When the time comes, walk any which way, and choosing will be e-a-s-y.  
-The Baron 

Haru laughs and cries for a minute or two. She keeps the note for the rest of her life, just like she will all the Baron's missives, delivered by Toto's cawing and black wings. 

She never forgets the Baron, and the Baron never forgets her.


End file.
